Mike Mathews
Cumberland Times-News
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FROSTBURG — Will Whitt had 17 points and 12 rebounds and Judge Memorial cashed in from the free-throw line in the second half to turn back scrappy Bishop Walsh, 49-31, in their ACIT consolation semifinal Friday afternoon.
Whitt, a 6-foot-10 senior, was 9-for-10 from the line in the second half and 11-for-12 for the game for the Bulldogs (18-6), who will play St. Frances in today’s consolation championship at 4:45.
Zach Myaer added 11 points and four assists for Judge Memorial. Whitt also had three blocked shots.
Pat Jones, a sophomore, had 12 points and five assists for Bishop Walsh (8-17), which will play Cathedral in today’s seventh-place game at 3 o’clock.
Quincy Redmon, BW’s 6-4 freshman, blocked nine shots, two shy of the single-game ACIT record set by Roman’s Eddie Griffin in 1998. Redmon also had eight points, seven rebounds and three steals.
The Spartans led 4-0 early after a pair of foul shots by Jones and a baseline jumper by Redmon, but Judge Memorial scored 15 of the final 19 points of the quarter, with eight coming on fast breaks, for a 15-8 lead.
The teams combined for just seven points in the second quarter, and Judge led 20-10 at the break.
The Bulldogs shot only 8-for-26 in the half, unable to get into any rhythm against BW’s zone defense.
“I think we were surprised that they zoned us, but I don’t know if we should have been surprised,’’ said Judge Memorial coach Jim Yerkovich. “We didn’t get the kind of shots that you need to get against a zone. And we didn’t offensive rebound very well against it, either.”
Bishop Walsh trailed 16-10 with three minutes left in the half but missed a short shot in the lane. The Bulldogs rebounded and hit a layup on the other end. The four-point swing made it 18-10, and gave Judge a bit of momentum that they needed at the time.
“Defensively, we did what we had to do to win the game,’’ said BW coach Jeff Rhodes. “We’ve had a hard time shooting the ball all year. I told the guys at halftime we’ve just got to put the ball in the basket, because you can’t score 10 points in a half and expect to win.”
The Spartans, 4-for-23 from the field in the first half, finished 14-for-51. The Bulldogs ended up 14-for-42.
BW switched to a man-to-man defense for the start of the second half. Rhodes acknowledged the success of the zone, and went to the man-to-man for defensive and offensive reasons.
“We went to a man-to-man hoping to create some easier transition baskets because we just weren’t shooting well,’’ he said. “I was happy with the way we played the man-to-man, too. We had no one to guard Whitt inside, but our man-to-man was decent.”
The Bulldogs opened up an 11-point lead in the third quarter, but the Spartans closed to within 30-23 after a Dylan D’Atri bucket and a drive by Devin Hawley.
The man-to-man defense led to BW drawing a few more fouls than in the first half. The Bulldogs began the fourth quarter in the bonus, and at 4:28 were into the double-bonus from the foul line.
“Their zone kept them within striking distance, and they must have felt that they stayed within 10 for quite a while that they would try to make a run at us with man-to-man,’’ said Yerkovich. “We did a better job in the second half offensively, and made our foul shots.
“We’ve been inconsistent at times from the foul line. We’re about 72 percent as a team, but have had some 55 (percent nights) that have hurt us. Later in the season, though, we’ve been good and Will is one of our leaders.”
With Whitt leading the way, the Bulldogs went 11-for-14 from the line in the final six minutes.
It was still a seven-point game (34-27) with 6:12 left after back-to-back baskets by Jones, but the Spartans managed only two field goals the rest of the way, and got to the foul line only three times in the second half.
Redmon flirted with a rare triple-double of points, blocked shots and rebounds in just his second ACIT game.
“Quincy is very athletic and capable of competing at this level,’’ said Rhodes. “We have several that are. We just have to get some of our other younger players believing in themselves. We’ve just got to do something to end his 14-year jinx.”
BW’s last tournament win was against Judge Memorial, 60-57, in 1996.
Mike Mathews is a Cumberland Times-News sportswriter. He can be reached at mmathews@times-news.com.
